Facts are sacred

The question is (Do British orchestras play too perfectly?, G2, 17 February), how many hours of rehearsal do the Berlin Phil have in comparison with their British counterparts? In this country we have for a long time had a tradition of arts on the cheap. No one would be willing to pay for the amount of rehearsal that most continental musicians get. Hence we have had to develop a large pool of singers and instrumentalists who can produce a near-perfect performance on little or no rehearsal, and whose sight-reading skills are the envy of our neighbours. The downside, however, can be a more shallow reading of the music.

Simon Hill

London

• Simon Jenkins sings the praises of opinion (Comment, 18 February), but I think it's high time most columnists were retrained as taxi drivers so they could have a more appropriate venue from which to spout their prejudices. Facts may lack glamour, but I'd much rather buy a newspaper which spent its money on journalists who provide the evidence I need to allow me to make my own judgment about the state of the world.

Eddie Tulasiewicz

London

• Some of us can only dream of appearing in a crossword clue (Letters, 15 February), but the bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf did once call me the Keith Flett of the Church of England, which, as episcopal imprimaturs go, is surely approaching ultramundane.

Fr Alec Mitchell

Manchester

• The Tories have realised that they were barking up the wrong tree (Letters, 18 February), and that to be more poplar they must spruce themselves up and respect their elders.

Steve Peak

Hastings

• And for the next book of collective nouns (Letters, 17 February): "a cabinet of millionaires".

Stuart Mealing

Tiverton, Devon

• George Shearing (Obituary, 16 February) told us he was once asked, "Have you been blind all your life?", to which he replied: "Not yet!" Sadly he has now.